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Correspondent Price files this report
oftor a rtJCtmt tour of Scotland's boom·
lng oll índustry srea. Thero he
was
privíi1Jg8d lo lo/k with government
oHíclsls, bonksrs. índustrlalist.s. and
North Seo oí/ snd gas engíneers.
EDINBURGH
1
t
•s St•mulattng and
exca"ttng
to v•s•t
Scotland these days There os a
buoyaney and confodenee on the
a•r that •s tnfeet•ous The generator
of all thts os the Nonh Sea o•l and gas
boom
Even among those Scots who don t
vote Scotttsh
Nauonahst.
there •s a pnde
and a resurgenee of feeling for thongs
Scolltsh The 011 bonanta has brought
the opportuntty to rewnte sorne of the
mostakes of the past for whoch the na·
tton
tS
sttll suffermg
For many years the central govern·
mont •n London has tried to stimulate
tho Scowsh economy
lt
has proveo to
be
a
vory doffocult task Prior to the otl
boom. unemploymcnt tn Scotland was
consostently lar htgher than the Brotosh
average - somet•mes
twice
the rate
Of
late, ma$$.ve
tnducements have
been made to encourage firms to reto-–
cate •n Scotland These 1nclude grants
for buoldtngs and machinery, removal
costs cash grants for each new em–
ployee,
rent
concessions. tax allow–
ances. employment premtums. and
uammg courses
Now wtlh the
011
boom under way,
ncw
•ndusrry •s movmg
in
at a qUICk·
onong pace. though the unemployment
problem has by no means been hcked .
Only
30.000
¡obs have been creatod
dlfectly or tndirectly duo 10 North Sea
ool (The total working population 15
about two mtlloon ) But the o
1
boom
meons more than the present emplay·
mont f1gures
There
JS
a
strong feehng among Scots
and
foro•gn bus•nessmen that the coun–
try has
a
powerful economic base on
wh•ch 11 can bu•ld and withstand a re..
cessoon A new technology os betng
forged to equip the oil explorallon end
exploJtatton teams. Thos puts Scotland
'"a good
pos1tton
to help in other areas
of the world tn the future. The North
Soa is one of the most dilficult work.ng
onwonments and has produced
a
do·
mand for hoghly specialized equtpment
and technoques
Much stomulation o! funds and lndus·
try has come from abroad. Scotland
now ratos second onlv to canada as a
roc1poont of Amerocan cap1tal House–
hold nemes like IBM. Honeywell.
S1nger and Chrysler have set up Scot·
11sh oporat1ons. and severa!
U
.S. elec·
tronte
f~rms
h.ave moved to the new
town of Glenrothes near Edinburgh
OffiCtals of the Sco1t1sh office glow as
they potnt out that last year witnessed a
net mcrease
m
population after a long
h1story of em1grato n. (Ouring the S1x11es
30.000
Scots leh to seek homes
abroad .) Attempts are being made to
relocate populations from the old end
doceying urban areas to booming new
towns such as East Kilbride, Cum·
bernauld. lrvtne, Stonehouse and L1v·
ongstona
New lile For Old Cities
Wtth the advent ol the oil 1ndus1ry 11
IS not only the new towns that are
10
DllBDDM
IS
SCOTlAND'S CHAlliNGI
by
Oav1d PriCe
boom1ng Older ports hke Oundee. dat
1ng back at least
750
years. are
ex·
per.enc1ng compulsive growth
Aberdeen os hke a Wild West town tn
the gold rush. In
1970
Aberdeen a.rport
handled
120. 000
passengers. The
number more than doubled by 19 73
end doubled agaon during
1974.
WJth
the
011 tndustry has come a vaseincrease
in lreight and hardware transpon . The
eirport has now become a majar opera·
tions base lar helicopters servong the
offshore oil platforms.
Development costs of the North Sea
reserves are staggering . A companson
m1ght be 1n ordar The gross domestic
product of Scotland for
1972
was
around
(4Y,
bllhon
(S IOY,
billion). The
explootatoon of one field - the Fones
fHtld - wlll cost
(500
million
(S
l .2
b1lloon) 1n cap1tal mvestment. At present
there ere about founeen lields betng ex·
piOtted So tn the next few years there
could be a capual onvestment of well on
excess of the total produchon of all
Scottlsh mdustnes.
New petroleum-connected ondustnes
are
stort1ng
ín
out·of·the~way
areas. Gt–
gantic drilling platforms have 10 be buth
-
massivo
structures of steet or con–
crete perhaps twice the height of Big
8en. Concrete platforms require very
deep water for production. The very
areas where the powerful forces ol na·
ture have produced deep water onlets
are often those w1ld. barbanc placas
wh1ch have the least population. Now
h1gh technology mdustry must be
1mpollod •mo areas not only without pre·
v•ous mhabitants but often w•thout road
or
ra1l , Hundreds
of workers must be
brought on and housed
Scotland has on average onlv a lifth
of the populato n density of England
Much of the country averages only one
person por squaro mole W1th the con·
struct•on
of
motorways
and
ra1l
commu–
n•cat•ons
serv•ng the
who~
natton.
ther~~t
tS a hum of excnement like that of
a new Yukon Urgent constructlon of
new roads 10 the north and northeast
w1ll
serve Aberdeen
lnvemess. and In.
vergordon
The Challenge
The onfuston of cap1tal and 1ndustry
.nto the Scotush economy. whtch for so
long has been neglected. is a welcome
follip but also
a
challenge.
Thore is more involved than JUSI the
possibohty of a new. tabulous rags·to·
nchesstory. Scotlandet last has achanca
to
rewnte
the last two
centuncs
of blood
sweet, tears and oppress1on. The boom·
ong ondustry ol the OIQhteenth and nona·
teenth century
that tmpelted
wofkers •nto
the faetones and sh1pyards of Glasgow
leh a tremendous scar stdl presenttoday
The forces that drewpeoplefrom the land
were
afso
strong enough to dismtegrate
tho famlly bonds and soc1al standards of
succ:eedtng generat1ons_
The repopulating of new areas bnngs
tho samo challenge today as two hun·
dred voars ago Families must
be
de·
cently housed. And above all there
noeds to be an mvofvement of worker
and manager together in joint projects
th&l transcend the
class
bamers- Wlth
up to ton
new ftrms starting each
month
1n Aberdoen there 15 an opportun.ty 10
comont ftrm
worker~manager relatlon~
shops befare thev can harden mto the
tnternectne tndustnal warfare that has
so
charectenzed the Bnti.sh mdustnal
seene of rec:ent years
Then there •s the envnonmental chal–
lenge In ten or hheen years sorne fear
that a temporary
boom
woll havo leh
certaon areas as ugly, empty hulks -
and perhaps also w1th a monstrous
unemployment problem
The
intrustOn
o·f
the oit industry mto
oreas of suporb natural beautv has
caus&d spocial anxiery
lf
any lesson of
the past has been learned in this area .
there 11 e need to appty it tn plannmg
and butldmg up
1n
each commumty
both the sohdity ol a future onduslrlal
base
and preservation - or renovat10n
-
of the environment for future gener-
8tlons One 011 company surrounded
lis
011 tank " farm" wrth a grassy embank·
ment planted wtth treos The cost was
substantl81-
(Y:!
m1lllon
($1 2
mtlllon)
out of a total development cost of
1:7
Y,
mtll1on. but it hod the unsoghtly ondustry
from pubhc view
Tha
potenual of the oil boom for Scot·
land and the United Kingdom is
enormous. lt could put Britain back on
hor
reet
again . lt
also
confers responst·
billtios for the proper use of resources.
Thore
IS
a challenge to renew and
rebuild tha nation not only economically
but olso on a sound social and moral
besos But th1s wtll only succeed il the
present generation takes to heart the
lessons of the past and reahzes that thos
could 1ndeed be the naoon·s " last
chanca .. O
W(EK ENDING MARCH 22, 197S